Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht and his wife recovering from COVID-19

“Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht is recovering from a two-week bout with the coronavirus that drove his temperature up to 102 degrees and left him fatigued and nauseous.

“I had what was probably in the moderate side of the disease but it was very debilitating and painful,” he said Friday morning in a phone interview.

“I urge everyone to stay home. … It’s not fun,” Specht said between lingering coughs. “I was very lucky. For people who are not so lucky, it can be very serious.”

Specht, 55, said that he probably caught the illness about two weeks ago from his wife, Karen, 51, who works in the principal’s office at Suffern Middle School. She also tested positive and is now recovering.

He began running a fever and got tested at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.

“It was mild at first. I thought I was going to be lucky, but by that weekend it got worse and the fever was higher – it went to 102. I started having dry coughing fits as well as tightness in my chest.”

Ramapo supervisor Michael Specht holds a Gabriel smart sensor during a press conference at Ramapo Town Hall in Airmont on Thursday, January 2, 2020. (Photo: John Meore/The Journal News)

The fever lasted just over a week and, like his wife, the supervisor was able to stay home and take Tylenol for his symptoms. He was in daily contact with his doctor, who told him that as long as he could breathe on his own there was no need to be hospitalized.

“The fever broke about a week ago. After the fever I had a couple of days of intense nausea and fatigue,” Specht said.

“I think I’m over it,” he said Friday morning. “I’m feeling tired and rundown with a slight cough. The department of health called us and said we can be out of quarantine but I’ll wait through the weekend.”

During the past few weeks, coronavirus cases in his town have risen sharply – with 1,002 cases confirmed by the county health department as of Thursday.

The burgeoning cases within a “hot zone” in the 10952 and 10977 ZIP codes led County Executive Ed Day to demand that Gov. Andrew Cuomo establish a containment zone for eastern Ramapo, without specifying what restrictions should be implemented.”